Calgary Dollars is a

local currency In economics, a local currency is a currency that can be spent in a particular geographical locality at participating organisations. A regional currency is a form of local currency encompassing a larger geographical area, while a community curren ...

Calgary, Alberta Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

, Canada. While functioning as a limited form of currency within Calgary, it is not

legal tender Legal tender is a form of money that courts of law are required to recognize as satisfactory payment for any monetary debt. Each jurisdiction determines what is legal tender, but essentially it is anything which when offered ("tendered") in ...

nor is it backed by a national government. Instead, the currency is intended as a tool for

community economic development Community economic development (CED) is a field of study that actively elicits community involvement when working with government, and private sectors to build strong communities, industries, and markets. It includes collaborative and participatory ...

as well as a focus for

community building Community building is a field of practices directed toward the creation or enhancement of community among individuals within a regional area (such as a neighborhood) or with a common need or interest. It is often encompassed under the fields of c ...

and local resiliency.

Overview

In 2018 Calgary Dollars launched a digital component with a new online listings platform, app for iOS and android and a new website. It comes in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 25, and 50 Calgary Dollars. The bills are printed on a

plastic Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adapta ...

material in the same dimensions as the

Canadian dollar The Canadian dollar (symbol: $; code: CAD; french: dollar canadien) is the currency of Canada. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, there is no standard disambiguating form, but the abbreviation Can$ is often suggested by notable style g ...

. In print, the currency is commonly

abbreviated An abbreviation (from Latin ''brevis'', meaning ''short'') is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method. It may consist of a group of letters or words taken from the full version of the word or phrase; for example, the word ''abbrevia ...

as "C$". The currency was founded in 1995 as a project of The Arusha Centre in Calgary. The project was originally called the "Bow Chinook Barter Community (BCBC)", and the currency was named the "Bow Chinook Hour". In 2002, the "Bow Chinook Hour" currency was replaced with "Calgary Dollars" (which was also adopted as the new name of the project). The Calgary Dollars organization considers its local currency to be implicitly sanctioned by the

Canada Revenue Agency The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA; ; ) is the revenue service of the Canadian federal government, and most provincial and territorial governments. The CRA collects taxes, administers tax law and policy, and delivers benefit programs and tax cre ...

(CRA) based on a CRA publication which discusses the taxation of "credit units possessing a notional monetary unit value" used as a medium of exchange by local

barter In trade, barter (derived from ''baretor'') is a system of exchange in which participants in a transaction directly exchange goods or services for other goods or services without using a medium of exchange, such as money. Economists disti ...

groups. Calgary Dollars Rebranded with a new logo in March 2018 with the slogan: "Get Local. Make Money."

References

External links

Calgary Dollars

The Arusha Centre

Calgary Dollars Marketplace
{{Canadian Paper Money Private currencies Local currencies of Canada Economy of Calgary

Overview

See also

References

External links